MK on Xmas Eve

[pjnugget]

Planning to do MK on Xmas Eve. Planning to get there early do a couple rides/shows and leave early afternoon before it gets too crazy. We have an ADR at Kona at 630 that night. We are staying off-site.

Does it make sense to leave the area entirely (say around 1 or so) and come back to TTC and take the monorail to Polynesian or should we just stay on premise until dinner? Maybe tour the resorts via monorail... Not sure how crazy trying to get back to the parking lots would be or maybe we can just park at Poly. We potentially may go back to MK after dinner to see fireworks.

Have a 2.5 YO and a 13 week pregnant wife during this time so we were thinking of getting early afternoon naps/rest.

 

[Robo]

Don't count on being able to park at the Poly at all.
The MK parking lot (TTC) might even be full.
Safest bet, if you CAN park at TTC on that day, is to stay in the MK area and not leave.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Don't count on being able to park at the Poly at all.
The MK parking lot (TTC) might even be full.
Safest bet, if you CAN park at TTC on that day, is to stay in the MK area and not leave.

Yes, this. Traffic will be really, really bad that day. Seriously worse than you can even imagine. As Robo said, your best bet is to get to TTC early (really, really early) and not move your car until you are ready to leave WDW for the day. Also be prepared for phased closures and not being able to get back into MK in the evening.

I, personally, would actually consider trying to get an earlier dinner reservation somewhere (if it's even possible at this point). If you leave MK in the early afternoon, you are going to have hours to kill before your ADR. Yes, you could tour the monorail resorts, but that won't fill 3-4 hours. You could also take a boat over to Ft. W and go to the playground and see the horses at the stable, but, still, that's a lot of time to kill with a tired toddler on your hands.

 

[gap2368]

I too would stay if you find the hotels around MK too busy then you may want to take a buss to one of the other like OKW, one of the all stars ( the 2.5 year old might really like all star resorts) as a place to rest if you just need to out your feel up some where the board walk might be nice.

 

[pjnugget]

Thanks for the advice - I think we may leave and hit up a Benihana for dinner instead.

We have the same plan on the 29th. but ADR at Ohana is 4:55 so that's an earlier time slot for dinner.

Would I have issues getting to Chef Mickey's for bfast on the 28th if we have a breakfast ADR at 10:45?

 

[Robo]

Thanks for the advice - I think we may leave and hit up a Benihana for dinner instead.

We have the same plan on the 29th. but ADR at Ohana is 4:55 so that's an earlier time slot for dinner.

Would I have issues getting to Chef Mickey's for bfast on the 28th if we have a breakfast ADR at 10:45?

Chef Mickey's... Arrive EARLY!
(Like 90+ min. early.)

 

[pjnugget]

Yeah, i think arriving early and just hanging at Contemporary wouldn't be that bad anyways...

Will traffic really be that bad all week???

Since I have a young toddler, I don't foresee not getting to any park later than 8-8:30 on park days.

 

[gap2368]

Yeah, i think arriving early and just hanging at Contemporary wouldn't be that bad anyways...

Will traffic really be that bad all week???

Since I have a young toddler, I don't foresee not getting to any park later than 8-8:30 on park days.

yes traffic is really that bad every one will be there ( kids are all out of school and a good number of people have work off or at lest can take it off) plus better weather = go to Disney

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Yes, traffic will be bad all week and you should expect possible phased closures and they sometimes re-route guests trying to park at TTC to the EP parking lot. We were there from Dec. 25 - 30 last year and took the BWI bus to MK on Dec. 29. It took about 45 minutes just to get from BWI to MK and they took a different route than usual because of the traffic.

This article (with pictures of crowds) gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect at WDW during Christmas week. http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2012/01/christmas_week.html

 

[pjnugget]

Yes, traffic will be bad all week and you should expect possible phased closures and they sometimes re-route guests trying to park at TTC to the EP parking lot. We were there from Dec. 25 - 30 last year and took the BWI bus to MK on Dec. 29. It took about 45 minutes just to get from BWI to MK and they took a different route than usual because of the traffic.

This article (with pictures of crowds) gives you a pretty good idea of what to expect at WDW during Christmas week. http://land.allears.net/blogs/jackspence/2012/01/christmas_week.html

Wow. what time was that that it took 45 mins?

Is it like that for all parks?

 

[dae3dae3]

I was there two years ago at Christmas. First of all, adjust your expectations on getting stuff done or getting on rides if you're used to going at slower times. Show up at rope drop and get more done in an hour than you will for the rest of the day. After about 10:00 it looks like the pictures posted in this thread. Late afternoon it gets even worse than those pictures make it look. Use the fast pass system and add more after you use your first three. Don't think you're going to wander in at 10 AM and then standby line 15 rides and attractions.

I would avoid leaving the park and trying to drive back in. They have parking restrictions starting pretty early in the day because the lots get full. We even had them park us in the grass one day instead of on pavement to crowd more cars in.

We had a great time but I had everyone prepared mentally for how crowded it was going to be so their expectations were in line with reality.

 

[pjnugget]

We are mentally preparing ourselves for the madness.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Wow. what time was that that it took 45 mins?

Is it like that for all parks?

We were trying to get there for rope drop. Between waiting for the bus and all of the traffic, we got there about an hour later than we wanted to. Last year was the first time we went over Christmas and, I knew about the crowds, but forgot about the traffic! Yes, traffic is bad throughout the resort during the holidays.